From rural margins to media trailblazers: India’s women journalists are rewriting the news

Khabar Lahariya, literally “news waves”, is an all-women media organisation run since 2002 by rural reporters, many of them Dalit, Adivasi and Muslim, dispatching fresh stories from some of the most marginalised regions.

“We faced challenges at every level,” founder Kavita Devi told UN News. “People would say women can’t be journalists, but we went to villages, persisted and proved that women can not only report but tell stories that others cannot.”

Long before global conversations about diversity entered newsrooms, these women were building their own.

From illiterate to multimedia producer

Villagers initially doubted women could be journalists and educational barriers made recruiting reporters a daunting challenge, Ms. Devi said, recalling the scepticism they encountered.

At the time, female reporters were virtually absent from newsrooms in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Many of the women who joined Khabar Lahariya had little formal education.

One such journalist, Shyamkali, transformed from being illiterate to becoming a senior reporter.

Reporting from the margins

“I didn’t know how to write a resume or handle a camera, but with training and guidance, I was able to learn everything, from interviewing to mobile journalism, and now I report stories that mainstream media ignore,” Shyamkali told UN News.

Khabar Lahariya’s reporting also goes beyond mere representation. Shyamkali recounted a story about a woman who, driven to desperation, acted violently against her abusive husband. 

Mainstream media reported the incident without context, focusing only on the shocking act, she said. But, Shyamkali’s reporting brought the woman’s perspective and underlying social realities to light, demonstrating how women journalists can add nuance, empathy and depth to stories often ignored or misrepresented.

Women ‘see their own image in the news’

Language plays a critical role in Khabar Lahariya’s mission. Publishing in local dialects like Bundeli, Awadhi and Bhojpuri, ensures that news is accessible, relatable and empowering for rural communities. 

“When we explain issues in their language, people understand better,” Ms. Devi said.

“They see their own image in the news, especially women.”

Game changing digital media

Transitioning from print to digital platforms has been a game changer for Khabar Lahariya, with its staff embracing mobile journalism, learning to anchor, produce and share news on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

“Technology has empowered us to amplify voices from communities that were always ignored,” Shyamkali said, recalling the initial fear and excitement of tackling digital media.

“I never imagined handling a camera or sending live reports from a phone, but now I can.”

This digital expansion not only increases visibility, but enhances women’s agency, confidence and economic independence, proving that technology and training can transform social realities at the grassroots level.

Telling the whole story

Women remain just one in four people seen, heard or read about in the media, according to the 2025 Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) report.

Kalliopi Mingeirou, chief of UN Women’s section to end violence against women and girls, told UN News “this is not because women lack expertise or leadership” but because media continues to rely on the same narrow set of voices, too often defaulting to men as experts and decision makers.

Indeed, democracy depends on informed debate and inclusive decision making, she said.

“When women’s voices are missing, the public is denied half the story,” she said. “This distorts reality, weakens accountability and narrows the democratic space. In today’s context of backlash against gender equality, the exclusion of women in news is not only a gender issue, it is a democratic deficit.”

‘Radical rethink’ required

Progress on gender representation in media has not only stalled, it is under threat, according to the new report.

“These findings are both a wake-up call and a call to action,” said Kirsi Madi, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women. “When women are missing, democracy is incomplete.”

Despite making up half of the world’s population, women today account for just 26 per cent of news subjects and sources globally, a figure that has barely shifted in the last 15 years, the report found.

“A radical rethink is needed so that media can play its role in advancing equality,” Ms. Madi said. “Without women’s voices, there is no full story, no fair democracy, no lasting security and no shared future.”

This story was first published on UN News.